The Otago Daily Times counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.
No 81: Edgar Centre opens its doors (1995)
But the Edgar Centre started out life as a woolstore. The building was bought for $2.5 million thanks to a $500,000 gift from Otago businessman Eion Edgar, with the Dunedin City Council picking up the balance.
About 1700 pupils from 23 Otago schools filed through its doors to see the Queen unveil the plaque and declared the centre open on November 6.
Since then countless people have shed blood, sweat and tears under its roof. The centre has hosted the Tall Ferns, the Tall Blacks, the Silver Ferns and the New Zealand Davis Cup team, and even the All Blacks and the Black Caps have trained at the venue.
Perhaps one of the most memorable sporting events staged was the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup final, when the Otago Rebels defeated the Southern Sting 57-50.
The centre is home to the Otago Nuggets and it is the Southern Steel's second home venue, but its real value to the community has been to the ordinary person in the street, with about 600,000 people using the facility each year.
The Edgar Centre was the winner of a Hillary Commission award in 1996. In October 1996, the $2.1 million stage two of the development featuring a restaurant, cafe, seminar room and reception area was opened.
In February 2005, the $10.8 million Lion Foundation Arena addition, featuring three wooden sprung courts, was opened jointly by Edgar and Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin.
The Edgar Centre is believed to be the largest single-building indoor sporting facility in the southern hemisphere.
